Watkins Memorial boys golf closing in on LCL title

Watkins Memorial's Cody Cogdill putts during the third of four Licking County League boys golf meets on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 at Raccoon International Golf Club in Granville.(Photo: Sara C. Tobias, Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)Buy Photo

GRANVILLE - Entering the stretch drive of the season, it would be fair for Watkins Memorial boys golf coach Kyle Rohrabaugh to wonder if his team is tiring in any way.

Any concerns are alleviated when Rohrabaugh meets with the team every Monday.

"We won't practice as a team on Sunday, but even when I come back early in the week, they are always talking what they did to practice on Sunday or where they went and played," Rohrabaugh said. "They are driven to the point where they are disciplining themselves in practice and shows their desire to do well."

Watkins has put itself on the verge of the Licking County League title.

The Warriors play in the fourth and final LCL meet of the season Wednesday at Kyber Run. The Warriors won the first two tournaments and placed runner-up in third Sept. 7 at Raccoon International.

With an experienced roster, which had an impressive summer, the Warriors were on a mission to be LCL champions. Barring a disaster, they will be just that.

"We definitely wanted to win the league and then looking past that perform well at our sectional event as well," Rohrabaugh said.

Watkins did not have its best day at Raccoon International, but much of that can be chalked up to the intense heat. Cody Stonebraker, who has kept the momentum from an outstanding season debut, led the Warriors with an 80.

Gavyn Parman followed with an 81, Cody Cogdill an 87 and Robby Schaal an 88 to round out the scoring. A pair of juniors entered the season with the most varsity experience, and they have the Warriors pointing in the right direction heading into the stretch run.

"Our junior class, we have relied quite a bit on Cody Cogdill and Gavyn Parman," Rohrabaugh said. "Especially lately, those two have shot more consistently in the 70s as the year has gone on, so that's been awesome.

"Every tournament we have had guys who have performed well and some who have struggled, and that has been switched around. We are still waiting and hopefully we will get some of those rounds before the postseason where all of them can come together and shoot low numbers at the same event."

Watkins will play in the sectional tournament Oct. 4. What has helped the Warriors the past two seasons is a change in the LCL schedule, which eliminated mandatory nine-hole matches.

Coaches now have an opportunity to give their players a chance to play a wider variety of courses and against better competition. Additional 18-hole matches also give players a chance to handle the expected adversity.

"I really like the 18-hole format. I think it really benefits the kids," Rohrabaugh said. "It's almost like the full golf event. It's a maturity thing for the kids. You can't just play the first nine really well and kind of pack it in for the day. They have to perform for the second nine to have their total score still be really low."